In the last general election, Puerto Ricans chose the Republican-aligned candidate of the New Progressive Party. However, the increased unity of the pro-independence movement under one alliance, “Alianza de País” (Independence Party), has captured a historic percentage of voters and signified a growing pro-independence faction.
González: 30-40% 40-50% 50-60%
Dalmau: 30-40% 40-50%
A National Plebiscite and a Symbolic Presidential Vote
The island of Puerto Rico, classified as a “Commonwealth” by the United States Congress since 1952, held a historic four-candidate gubernatorial election in November 2024. Despite the inability of Puerto Ricans living on the island to meaningfully participate in federal elections, Puerto Rico holds gubernatorial, as well as legislative assemblies, and mayoral elections every four years. Concomitant with these races, a national plebiscite took place, to measure support for three popular proposals to change Puerto Rico's territorial status: statehood, independence, and a form of sovereignty in free association with the United States.
In their last plebiscite, which occurred in 2020, 52.5 percent of Puerto Ricans, or 655,505 people, voted “Yes” for the statehood option, while 47.5 percent, or 592,671, voted “No” for all other options, signaling a split in values. The 2024 results indicated a clear lean toward statehood, for which 58.6 percent of the electorate voted, while sovereignty in free association received 29.6 percent of the votes and independence received 11.8 percent. Currently, the U.S. Congress will have to decide if these results engender significant change.
In addition to the national plebiscite, a symbolic presidential vote was held, in which Puerto Ricans chose between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. Kamala Harris captured 73 percent of the vote, while Donald Trump received 27 percent of the vote. Puerto Rico does not have votes in the electoral college, due to its status as a “Commonwealth,” despite its population of 3.3 million citizens.
A Historic Gubernatorial Election
This past November, Puerto Ricans chose a governor between four candidates from different parties: Jennifer Gonzalez of the pro-statehood, Republican-aligned New Progressive Party (PNP), Jesus Manuel Ortiz of the pro-commonwealth, Democratically-aligned Popular Democratic Party (PDP), Juan Dalmau of the Independence Party (PIP), and Javier Jimenez of the Republican-aligned Project Dignity Party (PD).
Jennifer Gonzalez won 41 percent of the vote, securing a historic third term for her party. She will be the third woman to hold the position. Juan Dalmau captured thirty percent of the vote, a first for any pro-independence party in the island’s recent history. Jesus Manuel Ortiz and Javier Jimenez, captured 21 percent and 6 percent of the vote, respectively.
Low Turnout, High Dissatisfaction
For years, Puerto Rico had been well-known for high turnout rates, some as high as eighty-nine percent during its elections. In 2008, 1.9 million out of 2.5 million registered voters participated in the general election. Only eight years later, voter turnout decreased to 55 percent, and it has not seen an increase since, signaling a high dissatisfaction with the two main parties that dominate the island’s government, the PNP and PDP.
In 2020, Pedro Pierluisi of the PNP won the governorship with only one-third of the vote, marking the first election in which both mainstream parties failed to win forty percent of the electorate. In August of 2019, his predecessor, Ricardo Rosello of the PNP, was forced to resign after weeks of disastrous protests due to an 889-page leak in which Rosello and his top advisers, in a WhatsApp group chat, made insulting remarks about women, constituents, and victims of Hurricane Maria, which devastated the island in 2018. Until January, Rosello’s vacancy was filled by Wanda Vazquez, the second woman to hold the role. Vazquez’s appointment as Governor culminated weeks of political turmoil after the WhatsApp scandal.
Due to the political turmoil, uncertainty about the future status of the island, and the catastrophic Hurricane Maria—which left millions without power for months and crippled the energy grid—Puerto Ricans felt that voting would not bring about significant change. While voter turnout has remained at around fifty-five percent since 2016, the attitudes of voters have shifted significantly. In 2020, the two pro-independence candidates, Alexandra Lugaro and Juan Dalmau, captured a combined twenty-seven percent of the vote, on an island where support for independence has stayed at a steady two to five percent since 1990. In the 2024 election, the two pro-independence parties merged under one alliance and one party, “Alianza de País” (Country Alliance), and captured a third of the electorate. Despite this growing pro-independence faction, the national plebiscite results indicated a clear lean toward statehood rather than independence.
It is unclear whether a significant change to Puerto Rico’s status will come about as a result of the 2024 plebiscite. However, one thing remains clear: Puerto Rican voting patterns and attitudes are rapidly changing, and the Independence Party is inching closer to victory.
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